Why and How Must Doctrinal Knowledge Be Confirmed?
Key Concept: If the truth of doctrine is not confirmed by the letter of the Word, it will appear as if it consists of only human intelligence (Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 54).
That by means of doctrine the Word not only becomes intelligible, but also as it were shines with light, is because without doctrine it is not understood, and is like a lampstand without a lamp, as was shown above. By means of doctrine therefore the Word is understood, and is like a lampstand with a lighted lamp. The man then sees more things than he had seen before, and also understands those things which before he had not understood. Obscure and contradictory things he either does not notice and passes over, or he sees and interprets them so that they agree with the doctrine…. It is evident therefore that true doctrine is like a lamp in the dark, and a guide-post on the way. But doctrine is not only to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, but must also be confirmed thereby; for if not so confirmed the truth of doctrine appears as if only man’s intelligence were in it, and not the Lord’s Divine wisdom; and so the doctrine would be like a house in the air, and not on the earth, and would lack a foundation (Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 54).
[When knowledges from the Word are lacking] man remains only in the atmospheres and material forms of nature to which his senses of sight, hearing and smell are restricted, and from which he derives no other ideas of heaven and of the Being and Essence of God than those that are atmospherical and material. Thinking from such ideas he can form no conclusions about God, as to whether He exists or not, or whether He is one or many; still less what He is in respect to His Being and Essence (True Christian Religion 24:2)
One day there appeared to me a magnificent temple…. [3] When I drew nearer I saw this inscription above the door, "Now it is permitted" (Nunc Licet); which signified that it is now permitted to enter with understanding into the mysteries of faith. From seeing this inscription it came into my thought that it is exceedingly dangerous to enter with the understanding into dogmas of faith that are concocted out of self-intelligence, and therefore out of falsities, and still more dangerous to confirm them from the Word. For this closes the higher reaches of the understanding, and gradually the lower as well, to such a degree that theology is not only despised but also obliterated from the mind, as writing on paper is by worms, or the wool of a garment by moths. The understanding is then engaged only with political matters that concern a man’s life in the state to which he belongs, with civil matters that relate to his own employment, and with the domestic affairs of his own household. And in all these things a man constantly devotes himself to nature, and loves her for the allurements of her pleasures, as an idolater loves the golden image he hugs to his bosom…. [5] It is otherwise, however, in the New Church. Here it is permitted to enter with the understanding into all her interior truths, and also to confirm them by the Word, because her doctrines are continuous truths laid open by the Lord by means of the Word, and confirmation of these truths by rational considerations opens the higher reaches of the understanding and so elevates it into the light which the angels of heaven enjoy. That light in its essence is truth, and in that light the acknowledgment of the Lord as the God of heaven and earth shines in all its glory (True Christian Religion 508:1,3,5).
Why and How Must Doctrinal Knowledge Be Confirmed?
Key Concept: If the truth of doctrine is not confirmed by the letter of the Word, it will appear as if it consists of only human intelligence (Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 54).
That by means of doctrine the Word not only becomes intelligible, but also as it were shines with light, is because without doctrine it is not understood, and is like a lampstand without a lamp, as was shown above. By means of doctrine therefore the Word is understood, and is like a lampstand with a lighted lamp. The man then sees more things than he had seen before, and also understands those things which before he had not understood. Obscure and contradictory things he either does not notice and passes over, or he sees and interprets them so that they agree with the doctrine…. It is evident therefore that true doctrine is like a lamp in the dark, and a guide-post on the way. But doctrine is not only to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, but must also be confirmed thereby; for if not so confirmed the truth of doctrine appears as if only man’s intelligence were in it, and not the Lord’s Divine wisdom; and so the doctrine would be like a house in the air, and not on the earth, and would lack a foundation (Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 54).
[When knowledges from the Word are lacking] man remains only in the atmospheres and material forms of nature to which his senses of sight, hearing and smell are restricted, and from which he derives no other ideas of heaven and of the Being and Essence of God than those that are atmospherical and material. Thinking from such ideas he can form no conclusions about God, as to whether He exists or not, or whether He is one or many; still less what He is in respect to His Being and Essence (True Christian Religion 24:2)
One day there appeared to me a magnificent temple…. [3] When I drew nearer I saw this inscription above the door, "Now it is permitted" (Nunc Licet); which signified that it is now permitted to enter with understanding into the mysteries of faith. From seeing this inscription it came into my thought that it is exceedingly dangerous to enter with the understanding into dogmas of faith that are concocted out of self-intelligence, and therefore out of falsities, and still more dangerous to confirm them from the Word. For this closes the higher reaches of the understanding, and gradually the lower as well, to such a degree that theology is not only despised but also obliterated from the mind, as writing on paper is by worms, or the wool of a garment by moths. The understanding is then engaged only with political matters that concern a man’s life in the state to which he belongs, with civil matters that relate to his own employment, and with the domestic affairs of his own household. And in all these things a man constantly devotes himself to nature, and loves her for the allurements of her pleasures, as an idolater loves the golden image he hugs to his bosom…. [5] It is otherwise, however, in the New Church. Here it is permitted to enter with the understanding into all her interior truths, and also to confirm them by the Word, because her doctrines are continuous truths laid open by the Lord by means of the Word, and confirmation of these truths by rational considerations opens the higher reaches of the understanding and so elevates it into the light which the angels of heaven enjoy. That light in its essence is truth, and in that light the acknowledgment of the Lord as the God of heaven and earth shines in all its glory (True Christian Religion 508:1,3,5).
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